Topic: Has anyone heard of new AutoCAD release?

[Dinosaur]

Someone on this forum is still using R13.

There is that forbidden release again!  I thought we all agreed not to mention it ever again.

What is even worst someone is still using R13? This I just have to know.
Who is the guilty subject?

Guilty as charged.  It is the only platform that can run my preferred annotation package for plat work.  I can annotate a 50 lot subdivision with r13 and EaglePoint much faster with the quality I require than with Land Desktop.

[Mark]

So who thinks they can predict what will be in the new 2006 version?

I know you can add coments/suggestions on Autodesk forums and they may use that for developing new releases,but do you think Autodesk surf other forums to get ideas of what the public want?Have they been here?

I seriously doubt any autodesk official has been here. But for the sake of argument let's assume they have. Do you think they would take you seriously using terms like "autodork"? If you want to influence the makers of the very software we depend on to feed our family/self then you have to be just a bit more professional about it, IMO.

[CADaver]

Why am I (as in the company I work for) suffering? Because, in order to function smoothly with our customers and partner engineering firms, we have to keep current with what they use. We can only ride the 'Can you save that for us in release..." wagon for a certain period of time before we become an annoyance.

Then you're doing it for the very same reason as AutoDESK, it makes you money.

And, if we don't upgrade when Autodesk decides that we have to, we either bend over and take it or we pay more later. Maybe that all sounds like a good time to you. It doesn't to me.

Wrong view, full price is not paying more, it's just full price INSTEAD of the upgrade DISCOUNT.

[CADaver]

He HATES r13 and EaglePoint with a passion ...

EaglePoint for R13 was the only EaglePoint release that actually worked worth a darn. We upgraded to R14 and the EaglePoint people sent a programmer rep to set it up for us on our network because he supposedly "has been extensively trained in EaglePoint's home office for just such installations".  What a load, after 3 weeks we still couldn't produce the first drawing with his installation.  After another 3 months of kicking it around we finally were able to download points from the data collector.  It seems EP forgot to upgrade all their drivers for new data collectors.  I hobbed together a couple of routines that will insert point blocks from the data collector, and we got our upgrade fee back from EP.

This year we're going to be looking at AutoDESK's vertical products for civil to see what they do for us.

[nivuahc]

Why am I (as in the company I work for) suffering? Because, in order to function smoothly with our customers and partner engineering firms, we have to keep current with what they use. We can only ride the 'Can you save that for us in release..." wagon for a certain period of time before we become an annoyance.

Then you're doing it for the very same reason as AutoDESK, it makes you money.

And, if we don't upgrade when Autodesk decides that we have to, we either bend over and take it or we pay more later. Maybe that all sounds like a good time to you. It doesn't to me.

Wrong view, full price is not paying more, it's just full price INSTEAD of the upgrade DISCOUNT.

With all of the hair splitting you do, it's no wonder you're going bald.  

[CADaver]

With all of the hair splitting you do, it's no wonder you're going bald.  

Maybe so, but I do find it interesting that people like to trash-mouth the very software that keeps them employed.  And they really like to pick on a company for making money, (like that's a bad thing) which is the very reason they use the software to begin with.

[nivuahc]

With all of the hair splitting you do, it's no wonder you're going bald.  

Maybe so, but I do find it interesting that people like to trash-mouth the very software that keeps them employed.  And they really like to pick on a company for making money, (like that's a bad thing) which is the very reason they use the software to begin with.

This software doesn't keep me employed. My skill using this software keeps me employed. If you have the idea that the users of AutoCAD owe their success to Autodesk and not the other way around, I'm afraid it's you who has the wrong view.

And I don't have a problem with people, or companies, making money. In fact, believe it or not, I even enjoy making money. Unfortunately, every time Autocad puts my company into a situation where we are essentially forced to upgrade or die, it means less money in my pocket.

But I suppose I should be happy about that, no?

[TR]

This software doesn't keep me employed. My skill using this software keeps me employed. If you have the idea that the users of AutoCAD owe their success to Autodesk and not the other way around, I'm afraid it's you who has the wrong view.

And I don't have a problem with people, or companies, making money. In fact, believe it or not, I even enjoy making money. Unfortunately, every time Autocad puts my company into a situation where we are essentially forced to upgrade or die, it means less money in my pocket.

But I suppose I should be happy about that, no?

Truer words were never spoken.

[Dent Cermak]

Got this from AutiDesk the other day:





Coming soon to help you fully realize your ideas so you can compete and win is the new family of Autodesk® software solutions including the most widely used CAD software for design, drafting, and detailing; innovative new ways to model and visualize projects before they become reality; and practical lifecycle management tools.

For any of the following products that you qualify for under Subscription*, we will send a notice as shipments begin:

AutoCAD® 2006
 AutoCAD® LT 2006
Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2006
 AutoCAD® Electrical 2006
AutoCAD® Mechanical 2006 Autodesk Inventor® Series 10


Now is the time to ensure your contact information and mailing address is accurate. To verify or make changes, log in to the Subscription Center. Once there, select the Subscription Administration link from the navigation menu on the left side of the screen and then select Contact Information.

Thank you for choosing Subscription for your Autodesk products.

Sincerely,
The Autodesk Subscription Team

*Note: Your Subscription must be current



No other details received yet.

[CADaver]

This software doesn't keep me employed.
...
where we are essentially forced to upgrade or die,

You can't have it both ways.

Without the software, your skill is just so much thin air, as you say without the software you die.

If you don't like it, don't buy it.  But wait, all your clients use it, so for you to MAKE MONEY, you need to use it, too.  Oops, your clients upgraded, for you to continue to MAKE MONEY, you need to upgrade, too.  It's called "cost of doing business".  

The costs for keeping up with AutoCAD releases aren't anywhere near the costs of maintaining employee salaries in the last 20 years, but let's don't complain about that.   Heck the cost of maintaining the software is nowhere near the cost of maintaining the hardware for that matter.  Hey, you can be just as productive using a little slower machine, with one 19" monitor.  Let's lose the sound card and speakers, all the frills, no internet access, just yer basic stripped down CAD terminal.  Do that and wait for the whining to begin.

[whdjr]

With all of the hair splitting you do, it's no wonder you're going bald.  

Maybe so, but I do find it interesting that people like to trash-mouth the very software that keeps them employed.  And they really like to pick on a company for making money, (like that's a bad thing) which is the very reason they use the software to begin with.

This software doesn't keep me employed. My skill using this software keeps me employed. If you have the idea that the users of AutoCAD owe their success to Autodesk and not the other way around, I'm afraid it's you who has the wrong view.

And I don't have a problem with people, or companies, making money. In fact, believe it or not, I even enjoy making money. Unfortunately, every time Autocad puts my company into a situation where we are essentially forced to upgrade or die, it means less money in my pocket.

But I suppose I should be happy about that, no?

Awesome...nivuahc is now Keith#2.  CADAver can "Exchange ideas" with him while Keith#1 takes a breather.

[TR]

It must be nice to work for a company where you can justify a $15,000 P.O. every year just by saying "Welp, that's the cost of doing buisness", because it's not like that around here. Maybe if we were getting new features that would actually make us more productive it would be justifiable but to upgrade for the sole purpose of keeping up with the drawing format your client is using isn't.

You would think that in the twenty some years that AutoCAD has been around they could have mastered the .dwg file format. But of course not, how would they muscle money out of people if the only reason to upgrade was for new and improved features?

[CADaver]

It must be nice to work for a company where you can justify a $15,000 P.O. every year just by saying "Welp, that's the cost of doing buisness", because it's not like that around here. Maybe if we were getting new features that would actually make us more productive it would be justifiable but to upgrade for the sole purpose of keeping up with the drawing format your client is using isn't.

Not my reason, but Nivuahc's.  He's the one that's complaining he has to upgrade or die.  So far I can justify the expense because we have a history (and data to back it up) of being more productive with each of the last 14 releases, (except for R13C1).  But then we use the new features, we take the time to find out what they do and how to use them.  I guess I might be more understanding if we were still using R10 methods and techniques, but we're not.

You would think that in the twenty some years that AutoCAD has been around they could have mastered the .dwg file format.

My guess is if you ask them, they have.

But of course not, how would they muscle money out of people if the only reason to upgrade was for new and improved features?

The only way to stanate the format is to stagnate the program (see Microstation as a prime example).   I'd just as soon AutoDESK NOT spend time trying to be compatible with older versions, and spend more time beta-testing the features they have.

[MarkO]

Maintaining compability with your clientele should be your main concern. If you lose your clientele because you fail to maintain compatibility with them then your company suffers. You may feel forced to upgrade because your clientele upgrades but that does not mean you have to upgrade ALL of your autocad users. The cost of a one user subscription is $420.00 per year. Invest in one upgrade and use it as a conversion station. I believe $420.00 a year to maintain a conversion station is very inexpensive when compared to the loss of a client.

[craigr]

You may feel forced to upgrade because your clientele upgrades but that does not mean you have to upgrade ALL of your autocad users. The cost of a one user subscription is $420.00 per year. Invest in one upgrade and use it as a conversion station.

MarkO, That's the way we have been doing it. We were all using LT98 and just recently upgraded everyone to LT2005. It got to be such a pain to send me all of the dwgs to 'back rev' to 2000LT, then 'back rev' that version to LT98.

We often copy floor plans from others, into our title block. This became increasingly difficult to take the newer rev and bring it into LT98.

The other part of using LT98, was that it is slower. Since using LT2005 for about a week or two, I've noticed that Plotting as well as simple daily use is faster.

It's been somewhat of a pain modifying my customizations to work with the newer version, but overall, I'm glad we finally upgraded.

craigr